Hostel Between Uum and Usm Essay

This study examines the hostel facilities and living condition at Desasiswa Fajar Harapan, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and compares it with a similar hostel, Bank Rakyat Hostel at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) This involves a survey of 50 students at each hostel to get their feedback focusing on five areas (their room, bathroom/toilet, hostel facilities, hostel cleanliness and hostel security system) regarding their hostels - Hostel Between Uum and Usm Essay introduction. Our findings found that generally USM students Deasasiswa Fajar Harapan are generally satisfied with their room except that the table lamp is not bright enough and the furniture is old.

Regarding the bathroom/toilet there, it was found that students were not satisfied with the cleanliness in the bathroom and also some of the toilet flush system does not work. As for the hostel facilities, students complained that irons are not sufficient and the some washing machines are working properly (for example, water overflow). USM students were satisfied with the hostel cleanliness in that the cleaners were doing a good job and the corridors were kept clean except that rubbish bins were insufficient.

Finally USM students at Desasiswa Fajar Harapan were satisfied with the security system there as there was regular fire drill and have sufficient CCTV coverage. However, there is still room for improvements to the hostel facilities and conditions. By changing the table lamps regularly, ensuring that the flush system in toilet is working properly, providing more irons, rubbish bins, servicing washing machines regularly and setting up some emergency press button around the corridor can help to provide a conducive place for the students. 2. 0 INTRODUCTION

This report provides the feedback from our recent (year 2012) survey on hostel facilities and living conditions at Desasiswa (hostel) Fajar Harapan at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and also compares it with that of Bank Rakyat Hostel in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), another public university. Our survey focuses on the following areas: students’ rooms, bathroom/toilet, facilities, cleanliness and security system. The purpose of this report is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the hostel facilities and conditions especially at Desasiswa Fajar Harapan and to compare the situation at UUM.

We hope that through this short study although limited to one hostel at USM will highlight the shortcomings at the hostel and hope that improvements can be made and will result in a better living conditions and environment for students there. This study is important in that the situation prevailing at Desasiswa Fajar Harapan may be reflective of living conditions at the other hostels in USM. It is hoped that USM’s Vice Chancellor will take remedial action to rectify any weaknesses revealed in study. The scope of this report is to find out about the hostel’s strengths and shortcomings.

We have conducted a survey involving questionnaires, verbal interview and connected via e-mail with some of our friends in UUM to get a better picture of both the hostels’ facilities and conditions. However, there are some limitations to our research. One limitation is that owing to lack of resources (human and financial), our study is only limited to one hostel that is Desasiswa Fajar Harapan. The second limitation is our sample size of only 50 USM’s Desasiswa Fajar Harapan students may be small. The third limitation is that the survey feedbacks on UUM students were solely carried out by our UUM friends. . 0PROCEDURES Our report was conducted based on several sources of information. Among these are from survey questionnaires, telecommunication to solicit views about the hostel facilities and condition via the telephone. Details of the above methods are described in greater detail below. Survey Questionnaires We distributed 50 questionnaires to Desasiswa Fajar Harapan residents from USM and another 50 questionnaires to Bank Rakyat Hostel residents in UUM. E-mail We e-mailed our friends to get some photographs regarding their hostel conditions and facilities besides the answers to our survey questions.

However, 20% of USM students said that their table lamps were not bright enough and urgent remedial action should be taken by USM to reduce eye damage to the students. Next, the condition of furniture in their hostel is very important to USM students so that they stay and study in a comfortable place. Unfortunately, 20% of USM students were not satisfied with the furniture condition compared with none from UUM (that is no UUM students were dissatisfied with their furniture condition). USM students complained that Desasiswa Fajar Harapan’s beds and tables were not in good condition especially the drawer of the table which is not working well.

Half of the UUM students very satisfied with their room furniture condition. The majority (60%) of USM students were very satisfied as far as their room size is concerned. The percentage of students agree and moderately agreeing regarding to their level satisfaction of room size were 30% and 10% respectively. 40% of UUM’s students were in the “agree” satisfied with their room size category which was more than USM’s 40%. Bathroom/ Toilet For the bathroom and toilet section, 30 students in Fajar Harapan disagreed the flush system is working properly.

It implies that 60% of Desasiswa Fajar Harapan students were not satisfied with the toilet flush system. However, in UUM, 45 (or 90% of the samples) were satisfied with the flush system in their hostel. Besides that, almost students were agreed with cleanliness of sanitary ware. Only 10 Desasiswa Fajar Harapan students (or 20% of the samples) were unhappy with the cleanliness of the sanitary ware in their hostel. USM students complained that sometimes the students throw the unfinished or leftover food not in the rubbish bin but throw it in the washing basin.

In UUM, half of them agreed with the cleanliness of the sanitary ware there. Due to the cleanliness of bathroom surrounding, 30 of 50 students are not disagreeing with the cleanliness of bathroom. In UUM, majority of them or 35 students satisfied with the cleanliness of bathroom surrrounding. Furthermore, almost Fajar Harapan’s students satisfied with the toilet lock, which is 80% of students satisfied with that. However in UUM, 34 students are agree with the toilet lock working effectively. For the existing number of showers, 60% students are disagreeing about the number of showers. 0 students were strongly disagreed and the others are moderate. In UUM, there are 35 of them agreed and 5 more strongly agreed with the existing number of showers. Moreover, USM students and UUM students are not requiring the hot shower in their bathroom. Facilities Our comments only highlight the problem areas obtained from the survey questions. First, close to 40 respondents (students) out of 50 students sampled strongly disagree that the number of irons provided in their hostels are sufficient.

This problem is prevalent as there are only 3 irons for each floor and approximately 100 students are sharing the irons. Second, when the students were asked concerning the adequacy of washing machines, 30 students strongly disagreed and this is to the third highest group on the strongly disagree feedback. Third, the highest dissatisfaction is when they were asked about whether the washing machine is working. About 90% of the students strongly disagree that the washing machine is working. Some of them even claimed that the water from the washing machine overflows.

Contrasting the facilities in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) via survey questionaire, it was gathered that washing machines in UUM function effectively gained the most satisfaction among the students with 30 students strongly agreeing. The water dispenser in UUM works fine and provides clean water at all times with both findings with 35 students agreeing to the related survey question. The feedback obtained from UUM students rgarding the adequacy of clothes lines resulted in 20 students each strongly agreeing and agreeing to that survey question. Cleanliness

Based on our survey, USM students were very satisfied with the cleanliness of their hostel compared with UUM students. Most of the USM students, which is 90% students strongly agree that the sweeper sweeps the corridor daily and maintain the hostel’s cleanliness. They said that the corridor is always kept clean and they feel comfortable. However, only five UUM students agree that the corridor outside their rooms is swept by sweeper daily. 70% of UUM students disagree that the corridor is always clean. The numbers of rubbish bins are important because rubbish bins play an important role in maintaining cleanliness in the hostel. 0% of USM students strongly agree that the numbers of rubbish bins are enough in their hostel. The UUM students who are strongly agree are 40% higher than USM students. Only USM students disagree that the number of rubbish bins in their hostel are sufficient. UUM students are quite satisfied with the number of rubbish bins in their hostel. USM students were very satisfied with their hostel’s cleanliness. 45 USM students strongly agree and 5 students agree that the rubbish removed from hostel daily. Compared to the UUM’s hostel, their students who agree are less than that of USM students.

The percentages of students who are strongly agree and agree are 16% and 36% respectively. There were 20% of UUM students who disagree that the rubbish is removed from the hostel daily. Security System Regarding the hostel security system, all 50 respondents from Desasiswa Fajar Harapan agree that the numbers of CCTVs are enough. CCTV cameras adequately cover all entry points of Desasiswa Fajar Harapan. Respondents from Bank Rakyat Hostel, UUM, said that their hostel CCTV coverage is inadequate and there are blind spots. Hence, UUM students disagree that the hostel CCTVs are enough.

Both of USM and UUM respondents agree that the hostel fire alarm is working well. The hostel’s management maintains the fire alarm system well. All of the USM respondents strongly agree that there were regular fire drills every semester but not for UUM students. Both of USM and UUM students give fire drill a high score because the policy and rule of fire drill hostels is compulsory for every semester. 6. 0CONCLUSION The conclusion from this survey is that both USM and UUM students were very satisfied with the lighting in the room which is bright.

However, most of the USM students were not satisfied with room furniture because some of the furniture was not working well (drawer lock) and this made them felt uncomfortable. There was no dissatisfaction concerning room size from USM and UUM students. The size of room is big enough for them to move around and carry out their daily activities. Based on the survey on room facilities among UUM and USM students, we found that a major problem faced by USM students is that many of them are found that the number of irons and the number of washing machines are not sufficient. 0% of them also dissatisfied with the function of washing machine, because most of the washing machines are working well and caused water to overflow. In contrast, UUM’s students were very satisfied with their hostel facilities for example, the washing machines are function properly and the water dispenser is working and provides clean water at all times. Based on the hostel cleanliness, we conclude that more USM students were satisfied with their hostel cleanliness compared with UUM students.

In USM, the sweeper sweeps the corridor daily, there are enough rubbish bins for each floor and rubbish is removed from hostel daily. For USM students, there were no security problems. The number of CCTV camera in USM is enough because it is covers all the entry points of the hostel and this makes the students feeling safe which contrast with the situation in UUM. Both of USM and UUM students agree that the fire alarm is working well and the fire drill is enough (once in every semester). Fire preparedness is needed in every hostel to avoid problems in case a fire occurs.

Finally, from the analysis, we found that many of the USM students were not really satisfied with their hostel toilet and bathroom conditions. The majority of USM students were dissatisfied with their toilet flush system, bathroom cleanliness, insufficient number of bath showers and toilets. This contrasts with the situation in UUM where most students were satisfied with their toilet and bathroom conditions. 7. 0RECOMMENDATIONS Room Some of USM students were not satisfied with the brightness of the table lamp. In this case, the dimly lit table lamp should be changed regularly.

This will create a conducive environment for USM students when there is sufficient brightness. Besides that, Desasiswa Fajar Harapan’s furniture must be improved to increase students’ satisfaction. For example, old tables need to be replaced with new ones. This is because some of the students were not satisfied with the hostel’s old furniture. Bathroom / Toilet The cleaner of Desasiswa Fajar Harapan should regularly check the flush system in the toilet. If the flush system does not function, the cleaner must make a report to the person in charge.

This will enable the problem to be solved as soon as possible. The cleanliness of sanitary ware can be improved by not allowing students to wash their plate or throw their unfinished food in the washing basin. Besides that, fines should be imposed on students who do not keep the toilets clean. Due to the insufficient toilets and shower rooms, Desasiswa Fajar Harapan should install more toilets and create more shower rooms. Facilities Due to the problem of insufficient irons, Desasiswa Fajar Harapan can easily solve the problem by increasing the number of irons as irons are not expensive.

Furthermore, the there should be more washing machines installed and regular maintenance (for example, every two months) of the washing machines must be carried out to ensure that the washing machines are in the good working condition. Moreover, if the water dispenser is not working, the Desasiswa Fajar Harapan officials should be more proactive in that they should make regular inspection of the facilities in the hostel and not wait for students to lodge complaints on the facilities there.

Concerning the insufficient space provided to dry clothes, Desasiswa Fajar Harapan should provide more open spaces for students to dry their clothes or set up more clothes lines. Cleanliness Although Desasiswa Fajar Harapan has a better performance in terms of cleanliness, maintaining the level of cleanliness in the hostel area is necessary. Desasiswa Fajar Harapan should provide more rubbish bins around the hostel to reduce students from throwing rubbish all over the place.

Regular education of the hostel students on the importance of keeping the hostel area clean should be encouraged. Security System Regarding the security system, Fajar Harapan’s students are quite satisfied about the security system. However, the security system can still be improved by setting up some emergency press button around the corridor should there be an emergency. There should also be a public address system that is loud enough to reach all students in the hostel in case of an emergency such as an earthquake announcement.